*Official* Pakistan in New Zealand 2020/21

[Mike5181]

McMillan really has a way with words.

 

[Flem274*]

This time a year ago Henry was picked for the Sydney test... No doubt you were saying you can’t pick Jamieson he isn’t ready?

i think i thought he may as well have played but had incomplete jamieson info then, and by sydney basically went 'it won't matter who they pick, they're determined to lose anyway'.

the nz media and poster consensus at the time was jamieson was really tall and swung it but at 125kph with a fine but not outstanding domestic average so it would be great if he got 10kph faster.

against india he was 130-135kph which was a great surprise, and changed things considerably. now he's 130-140 which changes things even more.

 

[straw man]

Doull on radio pre-start was (politely) critical of the Henry selection, his preferred options were Nuttall (another opening bowler but left arm angle), Kuggs, Bracewell or Duffy (all able to do 4th seamer bounce role).

Nuttall would have been the obvious choice if in any sort of form. Has never hit it post injury though. Prior to that he was paired with Jamieson at Canterbury and they terrorised opposition batsmen for a season or two, would have been a great complementary pairing to continue to NZ level, quite Southee&Boult-like.

TBH I'd go Henry over Duffy. Also has a low release and is an along the pitch bowler, but 5 km slower. And less bat.

Disagree, Duffy's release point higher now he's not falling away so much, not tremendously high hopes and a bit Southee-lite, but I would've given him the chance over Henry here.

 

[straw man]

Also yes, this has been an excellent innings from Azhar Ali, should be an impressive century.

 

[Flametree]

I don't think I'm alone in thinking that Azhar Ali was maybe done as a top test player, but he's looked good here and been really quick to seize on any friendly lengths...

 

[Prince EWS]

Nuttall would have been the obvious choice if in any sort of form. Has never hit it post injury though. Prior to that he was paired with Jamieson at Canterbury and they terrorised opposition batsmen for a season or two, would have been a great complementary pairing to continue to NZ level, quite Southee&Boult-like.

Disagree, Duffy's release point higher now he's not falling away so much, not tremendously high hopes and a bit Southee-lite, but I would've given him the chance over Henry here.

Between the two I'd have gone Duffy just because I think it'd be worth the punt. From what I've seen on the video scorecards etc he's not better than Henry, but the chance that I'm wrong and Duffy does something useful is with the risk of your fourth seamer averaging 70 instead of 65. If the new bowler was going to open it'd be a different story but Henry offers so little in the role he's been picked in that trying someone who seems a similar standard to see if they can surprise or adapt better is worth a crack for sure. We know what Henry offers as a change bowler, and it absolutely is worth risking.

At the end of the day I probably would've picked Ajaz or Somerville and backed Mitchell in for some more overs in the first dig tbh.

 

[straw man]

And if he wasn't going to bowl on Day 1 he really shouldn't have been picked ahead of an allrounder who bowled spin, or a specialist bat.

I don't like the idea of picking five seamers at the best of times, but it's even worse when you just straight up don't use someone who wouldn't make the side on batting alone.

Yeah, I quite like Mitchell's batting but bowling is part of the package and if he doesn't bowl at all then he shouldn't be selected. Should've bowled half a dozen overs in place of 2 each from Southee, Boult and Henry.

Agree with the earlier comment too that Boult has been quietly sub-par this innings and it's escaped notice cos Henry has been worse. At this stage just wish Jamieson could bowl all day, with Southee blocking up the other end.

 

[Prince EWS]

I don't think I'm alone in thinking that Azhar Ali was maybe done as a top test player, but he's looked good here and been really quick to seize on any friendly lengths...

This has happened quite a bit with Azhar the last couple of years. When he's not making runs he does look truly awful - terminal, even - but every so often just turns out and plays a blinder that there's basically no chance of his potential replacements playing.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

This has happened quite a bit with Azhar the last couple of years. When he's not making runs he does look truly awful - terminal, even - but every so often just turns out and plays a blinder that there's basically no chance of his potential replacements playing.

Azhar simply doesn't do "a little bit out of form". When he fails, he does it comprehensively, but usually when things turn around that happens just as emphatically. A bit strange really

 

[straw man]

I'd have gone Duffy just because I think it'd be worth the punt. From what I've seen on the video scorecards etc he's not better than Henry, but the chance that I'm wrong and Duffy does something useful is with the risk of your fourth seamer averaging 70 instead of 65. If the new bowler was going to open it'd be a different story but Henry offers so little in the role he's been picked in that trying someone who seems a similar standard to see if they can adapt or surprise better is worth a crack for sure.

At the end of the day I probably would've picked Ajaz or Somerville and backed Mitchell in for some more overs in the first dig tbh.

Yes there are intangibles and 'having the knack', or in the case of Henry 'not having the knack', that may not be clear from domestic FC performances and may affect how they translate their game to international level. I agree that even if Duffy looks very similar at FC level to Henry, we know Henry translates badly to internationals so give Duffy a chance to do better.

Would've been quite happy with Ajaz + Mitchell too. They obviously don't think Ajaz has had enough cricket.

 

[Prince EWS]

Azhar simply doesn't do "a little bit out of form". When he fails, he does it comprehensively, but usually when things turn around that happens just as emphatically. A bit strange really

It doesn't even really bear out in the numbers that much. It does a little bit, but he looks like a fairly standard "vulnerable before set, will make you pay if he gets a start" batsman.

How he looks tells a far weirder story. You can usually tell within his first ten balls whether he's going to look like someone who retired five years ago for a painful 8 (31) or... play an innings like this. Pitch conditions and bowling standards seem almost secondary to this as well.

 

[straw man]

Disappointing lack of counterpart to the Oye Hoye Trophy on offer from NZ here. Need something truly desirable and NZish e.g.
The Cookie Time Cup?

 

[Gnske]

Haris Sohail looks more like a guy who retired 5+ years ago and is playing a charity match against current players more than Azhar Ali, in my frankest opinion.

Even has the build of a guy who has been retired 5 years

 

[Prince EWS]

Haris Sohail looks more like a guy who retired 5+ years ago and is playing a charity match against current players more than Azhar Ali, in my frankest opinion.

Yeah but he just does this every time he plays an away game, rather than randomly deciding to look like Kane Williamson once every ten digs. It's less interesting to discuss.

I assume he'll lose his place when Babar is back.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

Disappointing lack of counterpart to the Oye Hoye Trophy on offer from NZ here. Need something truly desirable and NZish e.g.
The Cookie Time Cup?

The Hudson Cookie Bear Bowl.

 

[James]

What I'm beginning to wonder is whether there's conflict between Kane and the coach/selector. Is Kane getting the team he wants? If Kane was in favour of Mitchell being in the team, surely he would have bowled him by now?

 

[straw man]

Relief

 

[straw man]

The Hudson Cookie Bear Bowl.

The Tip Top Topp Twins Trophy

 

[_Ed_]

Henry and Taylor! Never doubted 'em...

 

[thierry henry]

Ross looks generally quite uncomfortable taking slip catches these days